And what game ARE they playing?

November 30, 2010

Plaintiffs in Hicks lawsuit won't pay legal bills of subpoena target

A year after voting to use taxpayer money to pay $350,000 of their legal bills, three Gloucester County supervisor and an ex-supervisor are fighting paying for a lawyer to represent one of 12 people issued subpoenas by the four plaintiffs. The four plaintiffs, Gloucester supervisors Bobby Crewe, Michelle Ressler, Gregory Woodard and ex-supervisor Teresa Altemus, have filed lawsuits seeking $5.4 million from Commonwealth's Attorney Bob Hicks, alleging he defamed them in statements he made two years ago. As part of the lawsuits, the four plaintiffs issued subpoenas to 12 people seeking a trove of documents in an effort to show a widespread conspiracy was afoot -- with Hicks a part of it -- to remove them from office in 2008. In addition, the plaintiffs sought the computer hard drives of Garr Johnson, Patricia Cowan, Arnold Nye, John Adams and Louise Theberge.

Johnson, a member of the "Gloucester 40," successfully fought the subpoena request for his computer hard drive. On Oct. 15, a Richmond Circuit Court judge ruled in favor of Johnson. In the hearing, Johnson's attorney, Kenneth Gibson, requested Johnson be reimbursed for the attorneys' fees he incurred in successfully fighting the subpoena. Gibson put the bill at $4,125.50, accordin to court documents filed earlier this month. But attorneys for Crewe, Ressler, Woodard and Altemus argue in court documents filed Nov. 19 that Johnson isn't entitled to recoup any of his fees. They argue that court rules governing the issuance of subpoenas do not allow for an award of fees, according the plaintiffs' attorneys. Both sides are awaiting a judge's ruling on the matter.

November 29, 2010

Judge metes out 38-year prison term in country store robbery

A Newport News man was sentenced to 38 years in prison last week for the armed robbery of Rick's Country Store and other breaking and entering charges. Anthony Goins and another man robbed the rural store at the intersection of Hickory Fork and Ark roads in the Sassafras area of Gloucester on Nov. 25, 2009. The other suspect, Karl Antonio Brooks, remains a fugitive.

Goins was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment on each of three counts of breaking and entering, though 15 years of each count was suspended, according to court records. He received 50 years imprisonment, with 30 years suspended, on a robbery conviction and three years imprisonment for use of a firearm in the commission of a crime. He also had five years of a prison sentence suspended for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

November 26, 2010

Art gallery on Main Street schedules grand opening

A new art gallery on Main Street is scheduled to have a grand opening one week from today. The reception for Gloucester Arts On Main will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., featuring music and refreshments while "giving the public an opportunity to see some wonderful examples of work by selected local artists," said Amy Hayes Castleberry, co-director. Kay Van Dyke, a former Gloucester resident and a Newport News architect, is renovating the 5,800-square-foot Lord Botetourt Antiques building on Main Street and transforming it into an art gallery and community theater. Castelberry said plans call for scheduling art classes and events as well as showcasing fine paintings and pottery.

The centerpiece of Van Dyke's project remains a 150-seat community theater with a stage, to be used by the Courthouse Players, a community theater group. Van Dyke bought the building for $130,000 in June. The building is constructed of glazed clay block and dates to 1920. A 1948 photo from a local newspaper shows the building in use as the J.E. Hunt Ford Agency, with an Amoco gas pump out front and a '49 Tudor advertised for $1,532 in the front window. For more information go to: www.mainstreetartsbuilding.com.

November 23, 2010

Gloucester Point road construction $1 million over budget

Work on Route 17 in Gloucester Point is progressing faster than anticipated, as we noted in an article in this morning's Daily Press. While being six months ahead of schedule is good, the $1 million over budget for the project is not so good for taxpayers. Marcie Parker, assistant district administrator for the Virginia Department of Transportation, said the biggest extra cost came at the start of the project. When construction started, traffic delays were horrendous. So VDOT and the contractor pulled out and regrouped to come up with a new plan for traffic that led to increased costs, she said. After that, it was "little things here and there," Parker said.

Next week motorists should be watching for a new traffic pattern that will switch southbound lanes to the west. The contractor is hoping to install a concrete median by Christmas, Parker said. Next April, the final coat of paving is expected to be installed. "They should be done and out of there," she said.

November 22, 2010

Gloucester poll closing after host site closes -- for good

Last week's Team Gloucester poll on whether or not Gloucester County should give out $400 employee bonuses has drawn 99 votes, as of early afternoon today. The majority of voters -- 55, or 56 percent -- think Gloucester County should hand out bonuses, according to the results. Three votes, or 3 percent, thought that Gloucester should pay out bonuses only if all taxpayers got a bonus, though for some reason the Board of Supervisors hasn't discussed that option. The remaining 41 voters, or 41 percent, voted against handing out bonuses.

Although the poll was supposed to run for another week, we regret to inform you that the host website for the poll is closing down effective Wednesday. Here's a snippet from the actual e-mail we received this morning from the BuzzDash folks: "We regret to inform you that the website will close on November 24, 2010. Please note that all BuzzDash polls will disappear when the website shuts down. Thank you for being a valued member of our community."

November 19, 2010

In Gloucester, if it's taxed real low will the boats come?

The Gloucester County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday night to have Commissioner of Revenue Kevin Wilson begin weeding out boats used for business purposes from boats used for leisure to potentially adjust tax rates. But it's clear already there's some differences in opinions among supervisors on whether low boat taxes will prompt boaters to dock their vessels in Gloucester. While a boat tax can't be entirely eliminated, it can be set so infinitesimally small that the tax doesn't generate a bill; for example as in Virginia Beach where a tax of .000001 per $100 of assessed value is levied. A $1 million boat would generate a tax of one penny and how many million-dollar boats are sitting around Gloucester?

Supervisor Bobby Crewe suggested a tax of 85 cents or 90 cents per $100 of assessed value on all boats. "Aren't we trying to bring business here?" Crewe said. He theorized that such a low tax would bring boats to Gloucester and boat owners who dock elsewhere in the winter months may leave their vessels in Gloucester. Supervisor Louise Theberge didn't see it that way. She cited a recent regional planning study that showed boat owners didn't dock their boats in localities based on a low tax rate. In one instance, a locality lost more revenue than it was gaining, she said. Crewe wasn't buying it, though. "That's several years ago," he said. "You're looking at economic times now where these business owners are pretty savvy. I'm just saying it's something to look at."

Supervisor Carter Borden said the Board of Supervisors has plenty of time before making a decision on taxing boats, with a staff recommendation not being made until April. That's when budget talks get serious and a tax rate will be set.

November 18, 2010

Gloucester school system wins `Green' award

The Gloucester Public School System has won second place in the Virginia School Board Association "Green Schools Challenge." The announcement of Gloucester winning second place for schools its size -- with enrollment between 5,001 and 10,000 -- came yesterday at the VSBA conference in Williamsburg, said John Hutchinson, assistant superintendent. The Gloucester school system has launched myriad `green' initiatives, with just a tiny sampling being adjusting summertime work hours to reduce energy use and fuel consumption, installing high-efficiency hand dryers and installing low-flow faucets and flush valves with auto-flush devices. The school division began compiling a list of its green initiatives a couple of years ago, Hutchinson said. The award was earned based on a point system for the implementation of its green efforts.

November 17, 2010

School Board bonus payments pass legal muster

When County Administrator Brenda Garton announced last night that the Board of Supervisors needed to pass a law before issuing bonuses, a question arose as to whether the bonuses approved by the School Board in May were legal. County Attorney Ted Wilmot said yes, citing Virginia Code Section 15.2-1508.

Here's his reasoning: "I do not think that the section applies to school boards because it requires the `governing body of any locality' to pass an `ordinance' to authorize the payment of bonuses to `its officers and employees.' The School Board is not the governing body of a locality; school board employees are not employees of the local governing body; and school boards do not pass ordinances. There is no corresponding code section applicable to school boards which requires that bonuses for school employees be authorized pursuant to an ordinance passed by the Board of Supervisors."

Gloucester County bonuses: Let's put it to a poll!

County Attorney Ted Wilmot and County Administrator Brenda Garton figured out before it was too late that there's hoops to jump through before the county hands out bonuses to its workers. So the county supervisors will hold a public hearing on Dec. 7 and vote on passing a law that allows them to hand out proposed $400 bonuses to county employees.

But county employees shouldn't spend bonuses they haven't received because they may not get them. Christian "Buddy" Rilee said the $400 bonuses will be spent in Gloucester, which local merchants surely favor. But based on last night's discussion, it doesn't appear the votes are there for county employees to receive bonuses. Supervisors Gregory Woodard, Michelle Ressler and John Northstein all agreed the bonuses shouldn't be given. Northstein said the time is wrong and that he doesn't think the county's citizens would appreciate this. Supervisor Carter Borden, though he favored passing a law that allows the county to hand out bonuses, said that at some point the county may want to give a bonus. But he said he is "no way" in favor of giving bonuses at this time. That means four of the supervisors have said they don't want to hand out bonuses, which would effectively kill any extra dough for county workers just before Christmas.

November 15, 2010

Supervisors to weigh if boat tax changes will hold water

During the Oct. 5 Board of Supervisors meeting, a personal property tax discussion turned to boats and the question came up of whether or not the county can distinguish between watermen boats and recreational boats. The purpose was to figure out if working boats could get a tax break. Under the county's laws, distinguishing between working boats and recreational or leisure boats can't be done, according to a Nov. 5 memo to supervisors from Nickie Champion, the county's finance director. Under the county's tax rates, boats are assessed at a rate of $1 per $100 of assessed value.

If the supervisors intend to give tax breaks to boats used solely for business, such as those used by watermen, Champion makes several suggestions. First, she recommends that the supervisors direct Commissioner of Revenue Kevin Wilson to begin advertising a change -- or possible change -- in the taxation of boats, the goal being to certify the boats are used only for business. Next, Wilson works with a computer software vendor to track the additional information, at an estimated cost of $5,000. Then the supervisors can plan and possibly implement the change for the 2011-2012 budget year.

Champion also crunched some numbers to see the estimated effect of the change in the tax on boats. The county is collecting $321,781 in boat taxes this year. If the supervisors essentially give a tax break to watermen, the county would collected an estimated $5,000 less in taxes under one option presented by Champion. Under another scenario, the county raises the tax rate on boats to $2.50 per $100 of assessed value, which would bring it closer in line to the rate charged to owners of motor homes, horse trailers, travel trailers, camping trailers and other recreational type of property. The recreational personal property is taxed at a rate of $2.60 per $100 of assessed value, the same as the rate for vehicles, which brings in about $302,000 in revenue this year, or about $623,000 if you combine the boat and recreational equipment tax revenue. If the boat tax is raised to $2.50, and the other recreational equipment tax rate is lowered to $2.50, the county would gain significant revenue. The boat tax revenue would be $792,000 -- even after subtracting out the working boats -- and the recreational equipment tax income would be $289,237. That's a total of $1,081,237, or about $458,000 in additional revenue than under the current plan. But those gains in revenue would be negated almost entirely by lowering the personal property tax rate in all other categories -- think vehicles -- to $2.50. After doing that, the county's net revenue gain would be $67,381, according to Champion's memo.

November 12, 2010

Gloucester bonus plan: Cost to taxpayers is $132,366

County Administrator Brenda Garton is recommending paying bonuses to 331 county employees at a cost to Gloucester taxpayers of $132,366, according to a memo to supervisors. The Board of Supervisors is expected to discuss the proposal at Tuesday night's meeting after Supervisor Bobby Crewe proposed it last month. Garton's plan would pay a $400 bonus to 291 full-time employees.

Part-time workers would also be in line for prorated bonuses. Three employees who work 32 hours a week would get $320 bonuses, with five employees working 24 hours a week receiving $240. Another 32 workers would be in line for bonuses: A $200 bonus to 12 workers toiling 20 hours a week and $100 to 20 employees working 10 hours a week. Checks would be mailed out on Dec. 1, under Garton's proposal.

November 11, 2010

$146k here, $51k there and pretty soon it adds up in Gloucester

Let's start with good news for Gloucester County's financial condition at the end of the first quarter of the 2010-11 budget year. For starters, by not filling vacancies in county government, Gloucester has saved $146,061, according to an Oct. 22 report from Finance Director Nickie Champion. Next up, kudos to Purchasing Manager Bill Lindsay, who bid out the county's property and general liability insurance rates. The negotiated results meant $51,205 in savings to Gloucester, Champion wrote.

Now the other side of the story. You know how things are pretty tight in the economy? How people aren't spending as much money? That's trickled down to the county landfill. Garbage volume is down, meaning the county could see reduced landfill income to the tune of $140,000. So on the environment side, this is good news. Less garbage is always good news, right? But on the financial condition of the county side, this isn't so good. Which is better?

A variety of tax-related incomes aren't faring so well. Local sales, meals and lodging tax receipts to the county are also lower in the first quarter this year compared to last year. How things shake out remain to be seen. But Champion told the Board of Supervisors last week that this recession is u-shaped instead of v-shaped and the county continues to bounce around on the bottom of that u. Or at least that's the hope. "Hopefully we are at the bottom," Champion said.

November 10, 2010

Gloucester High School sophomore selected for leadership seminar

Audrey K. Jolly, a sophomore at Gloucester High School, was chosen from a class of 533 students to represent the school at a leadership seminar in May. Jolly was one of 14 sophomores nominated by school staff to apply for the Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership seminar held at James Madison University, said Kim Chandler, director of counseling at Gloucester High School. Of 11 candidates interviewed by the committee, Jolly was selected as the delegate. Alexandra Schick was selected as the alternate delegate.

The seminar provides an opportunity for high school sophomores to recognize their potential talents and apply them in becoming effective, ethical leaders of the future. An estimated 7,500 sophomores attend the seminars in all 50 states and Canada each year. At the end of each seminar a boy and girl from each location is selected to attend the World Leadership Congress.

November 9, 2010

Gloucester crime report: Air conditioners are hot items

This week's Gloucester crime report, brought to you by the Gloucester County Sheriff's Office, tells the story of two air conditioning units reported stolen over the past week. On Saturday, a 2-ton air conditioning unit valued at $1,200 was reported stolen from a Toddsbury Lane residence. On Monday, a window-mounted air conditioning unit valued at $700 was reported stolen from a Fields Landing residence.

Another alarming trend was the arrest of four people over a four-day period on charges of driving while intoxicated. Last November, the Gloucester County Sheriff's Office arrested five people on driving while intoxicated charges during the entire month. An average of 10 to 11 drunk drivers are arrested by sheriff's deputies per month, according to statistics from the Gloucester Sheriff's Office, so four people over four days is off the charts.

November 8, 2010

Woman's death sparks lawsuit against Gloucester surgeon

A $4.35 million wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in Gloucester County Circuit Court against Dr. Melvin W. Ressler, a surgeon who practices at Riverside Walter Reed Hospital. The lawsuit was filed on Oct. 4 by Martha Sue Norville, executor of the estate of Ethelone M. Chambers, according to court documents. Chambers was admitted to the Riverside Walter Reed Hospital emergency room on Sept. 18, 2008, complaining of abdominal and lower chest pain, according to court documents. She was diagnosed as suffering from an acute inflammation of the gall bladder that causes severe abdominal pain. Ressler performed surgery on Sept. 22, 2008, and cut Chambers' intestine and a blood vessel, according to court documents, and "admitted the same to Ethelone and her family, though did not record those perforations properly in the patient chart."

Chambers was on a heavy anti-coagulant therapy and abruptly suffered "massive blood loss" and other complications as a result of having her intestine and a blood vessel cut. She was subsequently transferred to Riverside Regional Medical Center, but died on Oct. 3, 2008. The lawsuit seeks general damages of $4 million and punitive damages of $350,000 from Ressler, according to court documents. Ressler has not yet responded to the lawsuit. No trial date has been set. Ressler's wife, Michelle Ressler, is an at-large member of the Gloucester County Board of Supervisors.

Gloucester High School senior tabbed for DAR award

Jordan Cheresnowsky, a senior at Gloucester High School, has won the "Good Citizens Award" from the Augustine Warner Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. The award was announced today and Cheresnowsky was recognized by Janet Lineberry, regent of the Augustine Warner Chapter of the DAR in Gloucester, said Kim Varney Chandler, director of counseling at Gloucester High School. Cheresnowsky is now eligible for state and national contests scholarship awards ranging from $500 to $5,000.

Cheresnowsky was selected from almost 500 seniors at the high school. The DAR Good Citizen program and scholarship contest is intended to encourage and reward the qualities of good citizenship. The student selected must have the qualities to an outstanding degree that include dependability, which includes truthfulness, loyalty and punctuality, and service, which includes cooperation, courtesy and consideration of others. Two other qualities include leadership, which includes personality, self-control and ability to assume responsibility, and patriotism, which includes unselfish interest in family, school, community and nation.

Have Civil War documents? Get them scanned in Gloucester

Representatives from the Library of Virginia will be in Gloucester on Dec. 11 to scan Civil War-era documents. Of particular interest are documents from 1859-67 that reflect social, political, military, business and religious life in Virginia during the period of the Civil War and the early period of Reconstruction. Called the "Civil War 150th Legacy Project," the goal of the project is to digitize Civil War era documents for research purposes and for use by the general public.

Citizens are encouraged to bring original family materials to be scanned and included in the project. These materials could include daybooks or ledgers, diaries, letters, manuscripts, maps, military passes or discharge papers, reminiscences, claims for damage, hand-drawn sketches, photographs, uniquely printed items such as handbills, notices or broadsides, muster rolls, battle reports, dispatches, telegrams, paroles and oaths of allegiance. Items that would give insight into everyday life of Virginians and activities of Virginians, and particularly residents of Gloucester, would be appropriate.

The scanned materials will be made available on the web via the Library of Virginia web site and the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission web site. For information, or to make an appointment to have your historical items scanned into the Library of Virginia database, call Gloucester Parks, Recreation and Tourism at 693-2355 or the Gloucester County Public Library at 693-1480. The Dec. 11 event in Gloucester will be held at the Main Street Shopping Center between the Dollar General and the U.S. Post Office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

November 5, 2010

Gloucester Point Library negotiations under way, privately

The Board of Supervisors approved on a 5-2 vote Wednesday night a motion to direct staff to negotiate and draft a lease with the "highest-ranked offer" of the proposals that came in on the new building for the Gloucester Point Library. The two supervisors who voted against the motion were Christian "Buddy" Rilee and Michelle Ressler. Supervisor Gregory Woodard asked about paying for the first two years of the lease and was told that the county had money in this year's budget to pay a lease. We asked the county for a copy of the "highest-ranked" proposal that the supervisors directed staff to negotiate with, naturally thinking that anything the supervisors voted on in public would make it a public record. Au contraire, however. Silly us!

Here's the response from Gloucester County: The "proposals and specific information on the proposals, are exempt from disclosure pursuant to Gloucester County Code Sections 22-18(d) and 22-47 and Va. Code Sections 2.2-3705.1(8) and (12). The county maintains confidentiality of the proposal information until an award decision has been made." Once the negotiations are concluded, we'll let you know how much of your money is being spent on the new Gloucester Point Library lease.

November 4, 2010

Gloucester Town Commons sinkhole prompts closed session

It's unclear when a sinkhole in a road near the entrance of the Gloucester Town Commons subdivision will be patched up. That's the conclusion to be drawn from last night's Board of Supervisors meeting. The roads in the unfinished subdivision -- the entrance sits along Main Street opposite the Belroi Road intersection -- are still privately owned by the developer. That means that although citizens in the subdivision have asked the county to intervene and get the road fixed, from the sound of things the county staff can only do so much. Gloucester Town Commons was approved by the county as a subdivision in September 2005, when the real estate market in Gloucester was booming. By December 2007, financial woes that included liens filed by contractors and a lawsuit from Rappahannock Concrete in excess of $500,000 prompted the Maryland-based developer, Somerset Homes, to abandon Gloucester Town Commons and another project it was developing, the River Club at Twin Island on the York River. At the time, Somerset had sold 10 homes in Gloucester Town Commons for an average of $370,000, but the real estate market was collapsing.

The undeveloped lots and three unfinished homes in the Gloucester Town Commons project were subsequently sold to American Dream Homes, based in Prince George. In August, the company sold a 2,572-square-foot home with 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths for $240,000; the county has the home assessed at $310,000. But the paperwork to have the roads in the subdivision taken into the county's road system hasn't been completed and the roads remain private, which absolves the county of any responsibility in the matter.

The Board of Supervisors met in closed session Wednesday night to discuss the sinkhole. County Attorney Ted Wilmot had written a letter earlier this year to all the parties involved and set a deadline of Sept. 6, 2010, to get the road repaired. A quick check of the calendar reveals that the deadline passed nearly two months ago. At the conclusion of the closed session, Wilmot said that like the citizens of the subdivision, the supervisors are "concerned" about the sinkhole. The county will "work diligently" to have the responsible parties fix the road, but it's not the county's legal responsibility to fix it, he said. "We're not ignoring the situation," Wilmot said. "It's important to us, it's important to you, but no definitive action can be taken at this point."

November 3, 2010

Final tally in Gloucester: Wittman in a landslide

Rep. Rob Wittman, a Republican from the 1st District, captured 74 percent of the vote in Gloucester in Tuesday's election, easily defeating Democrat challenger Krystal Ball. The final results from Gloucester show that Wittman garnered 7,959 votes, for 74 percent. Ball captured 2,660 votes, for 25 percent, and 115 voters -- 1 percent -- cast votes for the Independent Green candidate, G. Gail Parker. Another 10 people wrote in candidates on their ballots. Wittman took the entire 1st District vote with 64 percent of the ballots, that's 135,431 votes, while Ball captured 35 percent, or 73,668 votes, and Parker garnered 1 percent, or 2,537 votes. Turnout in this race was 44 percent of active voters.

As for the other questions on the ballot, Gloucester voters voted overwhelmingly to approve allowing localities to establish their own income or financial worth limitations for purposes of granting property tax relief for homeowners not less than 65 years of age, or permanently and totally disabled. Gloucester voters approved it by a 77 percent to 23 percent margin, or . Statewide, the referendum was approved by a margin of 76 percent to 24 percent, or 1,572,354 votes to 505,079.

The question on the ballot of whether to grant a property tax exemption to certain veterans passed by a margin of 82 percent to 18 percent in Gloucester. Virginians also approved the measure by a margin of 82 percent to 18 percent.

As for increasing the size of the state's rainy day fund, or the "revenue stabilization" question, 52 percent of Gloucester voters rejected it, while 48 percent of the voters approved it. Voters across the state approved it by a margin of 51 percent to 49 percent.

Turnout in Gloucester was 44 percent, with 10,774 out of 24,389 voters casting ballots. Workers we talked to at the polls said the pre-election estimate in Gloucester was a 40 percent turnout.

Del. Harvey Morgan to make the rounds in Gloucester

Del. Harvey Morgan has plans to meet late Monday afternoon with members of the Gloucester School Board and schools administrative staff and then walk across the street for a public forum. Morgan will meet with members of the Gloucester County School Board, as well as Superintendent Ben Kiser and other school officials, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday.

Morgan will then saunter across Main Street to the First Presbyterian Church for a "General Assembly Preview Town Hall" at 6:30 p.m. The event is being hosted by the Middle Peninsula League of Voters. Morgan is expected to give a preview of significant issues facing the Virginia General Assembly in 2011 and answer questions from the audience, said Nadine Tatum of the Middle Peninsula League of Voters. "Del. Morgan always has an interesting take on the machinations of the General Assembly and I'm sure he will have something to say about redistricting, which will affect all of us for years to come," Tatum said. As always, the MidPen Vote event is free and open to the public. For information contact Katie Thompson, the league's co-chair, at 694-3966 or midpenvote@gmail.com.

November 2, 2010

Pre-election day hijinks in Gloucester Point

As of 1 o'clock today, voter turnout in Gloucester was 23 percent, which General Registrar Carole Gates said was "moderate." Gates said poll workers around Gloucester "haven't had any complaints from voters" in regards to what's going on outside the polls. This morning outside the polling place at Botetourt Elementary, Carl Cowan, chairman of the Gloucester Republican Committee, said a committe member had put out 11 Rob Wittman signs in Gloucester Point last night. Sometime during the night the Wittman signs had been replaced by Krystal Ball signs, he said. If for some reason you have been totally disengaged from Virginia politics, Wittman is a Republican member of Congress and Ball is his Democrat challenger. "We're checking out what to do," Cowan said. "We don't know the best way to respond to that." Other than that, Cowan said everyone had been quite civil today. "It's encouraging to see everyone quite civil for a change," he said.

Main Street hosts record candyfest on Saturday night

An estimated 3,300 children hit Main Street on Saturday for trick-or-treating, according to estimates by the Main Street Association. The annual event hosted by 25 Main Street business hosted its largest crowd yet, said Jen Christman, special events coordinator for the Main Street Preservation Trust. Families who dined with kids in costumes received 10 percent off at restaurants that included Olivia's in the Village, Wild Rabbit Cafe, Bangkok Noi, El Ranchito and The Sea Breeze (remember that next year, eh?). Christman also thanked the the Cook Foundation for its support and the Gloucester County Sheriff's Office for "ensuring the safety of all the princesses and goblins during the event."

So you can imagine the sugar high kids were on come Monday, following two days of trick-or-treating, considering this event was on Saturday and Sunday night was the actual Halloween. How many teachers are thankful that school is not only out Monday this week, but Tuesday and Wedneday as well?

Friends of Gloucester 40 top $12,000 mark in fund-raising effort

The "Friends of the Forty" group that is collecting money to offset the legal expenses and sanctions against 40 Gloucester residents collected $2,208 from Saturday night's concert featuring the Tri-County Express. Throw in $250 collected prior to the event, and the tally comes to $2,458, said Arnold Nye, one of the Gloucester 40 who was sanctioned $2,000 apiece by a judge for attempting to remove from office via court petitions four Gloucester County supervisors in 2008. Donations at the concert came to $2,020, with another $188 collected as donations for bumper stickers and Gloucester 40 buttons, Nye said.

Prior to the concert, the Friends of the Forty had collected $9,753.09, said Bob Orth, one of two people responsible for the account. The Gloucester 40 had agreed to pay the legal bills of four residents of the 40 -- John Adams, Patricia Cowan, Garr Johnson and Arnold Nye -- who were issued subpoenas earlier this year in the defamation lawsuit against Commonwealth's Attorney Bob Hicks. Legal bills of $5,994.55 have been paid since June in regards to the subpoenas, Orth said.

While the $80,000 in sanctions are under appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court, the money raised by Friends of the Forty will be used to pay the sanctions of members who cannot easily afford the cost, Nye said. When all the legal battles are over, Nye said, any money remaining in the fund will be donated to Gloucester charities chosen by the Gloucester 40.

November 1, 2010

Gloucester dentist Bill Dodson has trial scheduled for his appeal

Gloucester dentist Bill Dodson, who appealed his conviction in General District Court for pointing or brandishing a firearm at another, has a trial in Gloucester County Circuit Court scheduled for Jan. 11, 2011, according to court records. Dodson, a member of the county's Go Green Committee, was convicted by Judge Jeffrey Shaw on Sept. 30 of the misdemeanor charge. He immediately appealed the conviction to Circuit Court. Shaw fined Dodson $500 and sentenced him to 30 days in jail, but suspended the incarceration.

Dodson was convicted of pointing a firearm at Lester Wade Condrey the morning of Aug. 20. Dodson drove by Condrey as he was sitting on his son's porch on Clay Bank Road drinking coffee. Condrey testified that Dodson pointed a handgun at him in a shooting motion as he drove slowly by. Dodson testified that he didn't even have his handgun with him that morning. The conviction of Dodson was the latest chapter in an ongoing series of spats, confrontations and arguments involving Dodson and many of his neighbors in Clay Bank.

About the Author

I’ve been a newspaper reporter since 1991. I’ve been with the Daily Press since 2004 and live in Gloucester with my family. I’m a native Oregonian and worked for several newspapers in Oregon before moving to Virginia.